INESC TEC provides activities for students that want to become engineers

INESC TEC participated once again in another edition of SPE (Engineering Week), an annual exhibition organised by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), that took place on 19, 20 and 21 March.

INESC TEC made three other presentations which were held at its headquarters, entitled “How to teach computers to see” by Sílvia Bessa and Sara Oliveira of CTM - Centre for Telecommunications and Multimedia; “Energy efficiency and electrical vehicles” by Luís Seca of CPES - Centre for Power and Energy Systems; “The potential of the Internet of things in industry” by Rui Dias of CESE - Centre for Enterprise Systems Engineering.

The presentation entitled “How to teach computers to see” showed students how imperative it is for us to make the computers “look” at pictures in different ways since they lack the human ability to see and understand things. In the presentation “Energy efficiency and electrical vehicles” it was possible to understand how power consumption at home is used as well as how to control devices in an easy, optimized and automatic way. “The potential of the Internet of things in industry” was the activity that proved that any machine or equipment in a global network is linked to the virtual world, being engage in a mutual exchange of information between machines, products and people.

SPE 2018 aims to clarify any question that high school students might have about the different fields and professional opportunities of the engineering degrees. In order to do so, there are organised knowledge and information procedures, guided tours and lecture sessions. It is a unique opportunity to understand what being an engineering is all about and to know the several career prospects of this area.

The main challenges of this profession were expressed in five themes, in which SPE’s different activities are divided: «Saving the Planet,” “Creating the new Man,» «Creating the Society of the Future,» «Making companies more competitive» and «Building a New World». The answers to this challenges don't rely on a single field of Engineering but rather involves a multidisciplinary work. The student had the opportunity to participate in activities of several engineering fields, when he selected one of the five initiatives. His doubts were answered, helping him unravel the engineering degree he could study in the future.

The event offered more than 60 activities, promoted by several spaces of FEUP and its associates. The students and teachers of the 10th , 11th and 12th grade are the target audience. However, psychologists and parents/tutors can also attend. SPE also provided some information about engineering degrees, particularly on computer, electrotechical, construction, chemical, mechanical and metallurgical engineering.

Around 1,800 participants attended SPE 2018 edition.

The researchers mentioned in this news piece are associated with INESC TEC.